Inside
by ImMyOwnDefender
Summary: All Cindy wanted to do was to just get away from the city for awhile. So a trip to the countryside sounded perfect especially if the house was being reconverted into a vacation spot. She soon discovers why the price to stay was so cheap, the story behind the Heelshire house being a morbid one. But to her mistake she realizes that not all of the past is dead, nor is it just a story.


**1\. Vacation Home**

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own the production of the Boy, it belongs to William Brent Bell, and Stacey Menear, I only own Lucinda "Cindy" Taylor, and her family and friends. And again I apologize if this looks to be rushed, and I'm sorry for the grammar errors in the speech, it was hard for me to capture the authentic speech patterns of the British accent, and I also don't mean to offend anyone, who happens to be from across the pond from me either. I only hope you enjoy this, and if you want to know what Cindy looks like feel free to ask.**_

The house looked looming, dark, and almost sad to her, but Cindy really couldn't complain, if it would get her out of the city faster. Honestly, she was surprised that she could afford this…with a little bit of her parents' help. They were just lucky that renting this place out was so cheap, especially after the Heelshire family were declared missing a year ago. There were other occurrences in this area, but Cindy just thought it was idle town gossip.

Mostly from the taxi driver, who brought her here, though the whole time, he kept trying to persuade her from staying here.

Not that she paid much attention to him; her earphones were in the entire time.

And she couldn't get out of the taxi fast enough, "Thanks mister," she murmured to him, then reached for her wallet and pulled out some money, paying him.

"Oy, no problem," he accepted the money, then moved to take her bags out of the trunk, "You sure, you wanna be' stayin' 'ere, an' on yer' own too," the older man asked her anxiously.

Cindy took her bags from him, "Yea', not like I can get a refund for this," she admitted, "An' I need this trip," she replied.

The man grunted, "Alrigh' then, be sure to stay inside, issa' looks like rain, this weekend," he said as he went to climb back into his car.

"Take care an' thanks ole' man," Cindy smiled at him.

The old taxi driver laughed gruffly, "Call if ya' nee' somethin'."

Cindy watched him climb into his car, start it up, and drive back out to the front gate and out of her sight.

Now she was alone, she realized while reaching into her pocket for the keys.

She calmly walked up the steps and to the front door, inserting the key into the lock and twisting it open. A loud rumble made her head snap back up at the sky – looks like the driver was right, it really was going to rain soon, and by the looks of it, some heavy rain. The young girl shook her head, stepped inside and looked over the place; she could tell this was a beautiful place, such an elegant estate. Cindy couldn't help but think about what a shame it was, that the realtor was converting this place into a vacation home.

According to more of the town's gossip, none of the relatives wanted this place after what happened. All she knew what happened was that the nanny ran off with a grocery boy. The other rumor was that they stole the money, after killing the nanny's ex-boyfriend, and ran off.

But since then no one's heard of, or seen them ever since.

Coming back to reality, Cindy set her bags down, and moved to take off her shoes – the floor was clean and she didn't want to spend this day cleaning, on top of unpacking as well.

Setting her shoes aside, the 19 year old picked up her bags again, and went to walk up to the stairs. Even the staircase looked elegantly done, and now it made more sense why the realtor didn't want to change anything in this place.

It mind downgrade the value and appeal of the house, some people loved the Victorian feel of the place, and even Cindy couldn't help but marvel at it as well.

Though there were a lot of steps for her, but that was more of a minor concern for her.

The point of coming here was for her to forget, and let go and just relax these next few days. Hopefully, Cindy would be able to get that here; finally finding a room for herself, she walked in and set her bags on the newly made up bed. The room was lovely, with a nice dark magenta carpet, a dresser and drawer set, and a closet door, simple but still very appealing. She could see why one of the ideas the realtor had for this place was to turn it into a charming bed and breakfast. There was another rumble, but this time Cindy resolved to ignore it, and set about unpacking her bags. She hummed out a tune as she moved back and forth to lay her clothes and personal effects into the drawers and closets. Once that was done, Cindy made another mental note to check out the kitchen – it would be time for dinner soon.

Closing the closet door then setting aside her bags, she walked out of the bedroom and back downstairs. The sky rumbled again and this time, louder and stronger, which made the house rumble this time.

Cindy froze, and bit her bottom lip, she wasn't so sure now. "Iss' jus' the house ole' girl, get a grip," she whispered to herself.

The house was an old one after all, so there was no reason to be afraid.

With that reminder, she steeled her resolve and walked down the stairs and managed to find the kitchen after some room hunting.

She found a game room, with a billiards table and an indoor minibar, a laundry room, and a downstairs bathroom.

There was so many rooms in this house, and now Cindy was a little more confident about staying here, overriding her previous nervousness.

With so many rooms, she would be able to find a free and open space to practice and dance a little.

It would be a good way to get back into the game again.

The kitchen looked wide and spacious, a white and mint-green color, not a design that she, herself would pick out, but it looked comfortable and homely enough. If anything it resembled the sort of kitchen that cooks, maids and staff would use.

"So, this is 'ow' the other half lives," the teen remarked to herself, smiling faintly.

Walking over to the refrigerator, she opened it and checked on the food situation, closed it, then moved to open up the cupboards.

Looks like the kitchen was full stocked, the renter must have ensured that.

She decided to set about cooking up something easy for tonight, some spaghetti and pasta. Luckily the stove worked; looked like a lot of the electric and home appliances worked pretty well so far.

The young girl boiled up some water as the rumbling outside continued and soon rain started to hit the windows.

Strangely enough it was soothing, and calm – it certainly no longer bothered her now as much, neither did the noises that the house made. It all seemed to just fade away into the background for her.

"Just in the nick of time," she commented to herself with a smile and small giggle. She broke apart some pasta and started to cook it in the boiling pot, then momentarily left it, to take out a plate and some utensils. Cindy went back to the pot and continued stirring the pasta around, then walked to cupboard to pull out a bottle of wine and some wineglasses, and poured herself some wine. Going back to the pot she smiled to herself, seeing that it was almost ready.

The 19 year old turned off the stove then moved to the table, grabbed her plate, and started to scoop up some of the pasta onto her plate. And what's more was that there was plenty left over, so she could have some tomorrow.

And she wouldn't have to go out into the rain tomorrow to buy anything at the store.

She sat down and started to eat her food quietly, and sipping at her wine. This was supposed to be a two-week holiday after all, so she might as well celebrate.

Her mother would certainly disapprove, but Cindy knew her limit at least, and was never one to get drunk.

Ballet demanded a very strict regiment and diet, which was why this was a good idea.

Speaking of which, Cindy reminded herself to also call her mother; she knew that June would want to hear from her, and know that her youngest daughter was all right. She needed to text her siblings too.

Cindy soon finished eating, and sipped her wine, finishing that up as well, then got up and took her dishes to the sink, turned the faucet on and started to wash them up.

During this, she could see and hear the rain beating against the window, harder now. It would probably be a storm tonight. Cindy smiled faintly at that she always liked thunderstorms even as a little girl – she slept better at night for some reason. Setting the plate aside, she then moved to closed the pasta pot and went to put it in the fridge, and put the wine bottle back in its cupboard. After cleaning up the kitchen, she nodded to herself, satisfied with her job, and left the kitchen, going back to the staircase, past the dining room, and what she identified to be the drawing room, and went back up the stairs.

This time it was the steps that creaked, and she didn't feel nervous at all, though it was dark now.

It only made her feel small, in this big old manor. Maybe it would have been best if she invited her family over with her.

The teen looked down the hallway, and could faintly make out the way, as she made her way back to the room she chose to sleep in. Cindy stepped back into her bedroom and blinked – her bag was on the bed and the pockets were open.

"Din' I leave you on the floor," she asked herself, scratching her head, fingers tangling in her dark dirty blond hair

Staring at it for a moment longer she shook her head, "You're bein' silly, girl," she mumbled to herself, and went to look for her cellphone. She couldn't find it, and frowned as she dug through all the pockets, "Don' tell me I forgot," she muttered.

Frown deepening, she looked around and nearly sighed in relief when she saw it on top of the drawers, "Oh…god," she whispered then moved to pick it up, and unlocking it.

It didn't look like she had any calls or texts, so decided to call her mom right now, while she continued to settle in.

Pressing her on speed dial she put it on speaker, and put the phone down on her bedside as she looked for her traveling shampoo and conditioner.

It rang loudly filling up the room and making a bit of an echo, but was enough to make Cindy feel better in such a big house.

" **Hello, Cindy, sweetheart,"** came her mom's warm and loving voice, **"I take it you made it, and all's well?"**

"Yea' mum, I'm jus' gettin' settled in now, going to take a bath soon," Cindy smiled at the sound of her mom's voice.

" **Good did you get a chance to eat yet,"** her mom asked.

"Sure did mum," Cindy replied as she set some of her stuff about, "How are you an' da' getting on," she asked her, looking for her towel now.

" **Well enough, darling, so what's it like?"**

"It's great mum', like out of a storybook, I'll take pictures and show you. Maybe that'll convince you and dad to come up here, maybe on your own," she teased.

" **Cheeky thing~"** her mom said, making her daughter laugh, "I take after you after all, mum," she giggled.

" **That ya' do,"** her mom agreed, **"Well, you probably want to get on with your bath, I'll leave ya' to it, so goodnight, and call me tomorrow,"** her mom pleaded to her.

"I will mum, love you, pass my love to dad', Ian an' Tilly," Cindy told her, "Goodnight, I'll call ya' in the mornin'," she promised her. And they bid goodnight to each other, exchanging tenderness.

Once the phone call ended, she took it off speaker and hung up, after she gathered her toiletries and made her way to find the upstairs bathroom.

It was quick and hurried since it was dark in the house; she turned on the light and saw a pearly white bathtub and shower set. Overall, it looked immaculate, and Cindy couldn't wait to try it out.

She turned on the hot water, and plugged it up, getting it ready for a bath.

Then set her toiletries and towel down. Once it was close to being full, she started to put the bubble formula and soap into the water.

Now it looked perfect, and so enticing that Cindy quickly shed her clothes until she was naked and stepped into the nice hot bath, and closed the curtains, nearly moaning at the feeling as she sunk herself in.

This was absolute heaven – lathering her body up, she massaged the skin and sighed, then grabbed her sponge and started to gently scrub at herself. Finishing that, she grabbed her shampoo and proceeded to wash her hair next then scrubbed it clean, rinsing the shampoo and conditioner out, and proceeded to relax. She would give herself a few more minutes before getting out.

It was the best feeling in the world and Cindy just enjoyed, this was so much better than a spa, or resort for her.

Leaning her head back, she allowed herself to rest, and closed her eyes briefly. As she did she thought she saw a shadow pass, and blinked before dismissing it and leaning back again and closing her eyes.

The feeling was indescribable that she never wanted to leave here, but she knew that she would soon have to, but for now she could let her mind wander.

This had been a good first half of the day here; so far she could adjust to staying here for a while, away from the city, and all her daily stressors.

Including dance, which she needed a break from at the moment, everyone else in her group and her instructor.

Lifting her head she slowly raised her leg and scrubbed then did the same to the other.

Slowly and quietly she got up and started to drain the water into the drain and drew back the curtains, grabbing her towel.

Wrapping it around her body, she watched as the rest of the water drained away.

Climbing out she proceeded to dry herself off, while staring at the bathroom mirror – the girl looking back at her looked tired but now more relaxed at least, as opposed to just looking tired. She had slight bags under her eyes, but still nice looking enough, she didn't wear any make up at all today, preferring to let her skin breathe for a little bit. It wasn't like she would be meeting with anyone or going out today. Picking up her comb she moved it gently through her dark blond strands, feeling the wet tresses hit her shoulders lightly. Finishing that up she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and brushed her teeth. She decided to turn in early tonight, feeling tired already, so with that in mind she quickly left the bathroom turning off the lights, with her items in hand, and made her way to her bedroom, and going to quickly change into her new underwear, and pajamas, that she pulled out of the drawers.

The whole time the rain had grown harder during the time she bathed until now, there was a rumble of thunder that sounded so distant but at the same time she felt it vibrate within her.

Finishing dressing herself, Cindy went on to dry her hair thoroughly with the towel, then hung her towel on the chair at the vanity, and froze when she saw something seated on the chair. Moving closer and turning the chair around, she almost gasped at what she saw.

It looked like a little boy doll, with a cracked face…and large glassed brown eyes, and dark brown hair, dressed in a proper little suit.

"Where'd you come from," the blond haired girl wondered aloud, and picking the doll up quietly.

It didn't look so old, and looked to be partially fixed. The driver did say that the couple used to have a child. Perhaps this was their toy?

Frowning again she studied the boy doll, looking it up and down, other than a little bit of dust, it looked to be in alright condition, though just the eyes looked unsettling.

Maybe she would call the renter tomorrow and tell him about this toy, and any of the other old belongings that somehow found their way around the place. With that in mind she put the doll back on the chair and turned the chair around, not wanting to look at it any longer than she needed to.

Something about it was just unsettling…

Climbing into the soft bed, Cindy sighed softly at the feeling of the warm sheets around her and sunk her head deeper into the pillow.

This did just the trick and she slowly fell asleep, melting away to the rumbling thunder and rain outside, and to the odd creaks and noises the house's walls in entirety seemed to make, almost like it was soothing and lulling her to sleep and comfort.

Her mind wasn't on the doll anymore…

 _He could see her move about the house. His house. At first he thought that she was a new nanny, come to take care of him. But he realized that wasn't the case; she was here for herself._

 _He had looked through her bag and seen enough, and even learned her name, Lucinda Taylor – it was a pretty name, almost like a fairy or princess from his storybooks._

 _From what he heard of the phone call since she had it on speaker, her mum, called her Cindy for short._

 _Everything about her was pretty, even her name came as no surprise._

 _Pretty girls always had such pretty names. And could be kind, though the last one was nice too, so he would not be fooled again._

 _Frankly she was a little younger than he preferred, but still very young, and she looked to be caring and responsible._

 _Her age didn't mean that she wasn't his type…He only wondered if he was hers._

 _How would she respond to him...? She took well enough to the doll, now to see if she could follow instructions. He watched her as she slept and even as she did she looked almost angelic with her halo of perfect honeyed strawberry blond hair surrounding her._

 _And from there he decided._

 _Cindy Taylor would be his new and permanent companion…_

 _With that in mind, he resolved to go downstairs to see what she cooked in the kitchen._


End file.
